Cable operators have widely deployed high-speed data services on cable television systems. These data services allow subscriber-side devices, such as personal computers, to communicate over an ordinary cable TV network Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC) cable through a cable modem. The cable modem communicates with a Cable Modem Termination System (CMTS), which connects the cable TV network to a data network, such as the Internet.
The cable operators have recently been plagued by service theft through cable modem cloning. Cable modem cloning works by having one party sign up for a cable modem Internet Service legitimately, and then having another party “clone” or copy that cable modem and it's identifying data. This theft can be difficult to prevent, particularly when the cloned modem connects to a different CMTS than the original modem. The disclosure that follows solves this and other problems.